Running Blind
by bunny500
Summary: "Sakura, what- what if I told you we could fix this? That I- that is, that I've found something that could stop the war from ever happening?" "Hinata, what do you mean?" "Come with me. I- I'll show you." [Time Travel] [SakuHina, some NaruSaku and NaruHina]
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

Sakura put on the lipstick with a practiced ease. She adjusted the black dress that she'd found herself wearing far too much lately and examined herself in the mirror mounted on the door to her room. She looked elegant, far prettier than she'd ever expected to be (not that appearances really mattered at an occasion like this) except for the expression on her face. She looked grim, almost sickly. It felt like her face was frozen like that these days. She stopped to grin at herself in the reflection. It looked fake but she felt a little better anyway. She sighed, then took in a deep breath. She straightened her back, put on her game face, and left. It was time.

She met with Ino as she made her trip. She gave her a small smile and Ino returned it. It was a practiced one, just like Sakura's- more meant to reassure than to convey real emotion, and it did it well. Her lips were a pretty red, her eyeshadow dark, and her dress was a lovely, intricate piece. It seemed like a little much for an event like this, but Ino had never been one to leave the house in anything less than her best. She was beautiful, as always.

"Hey forehead, maybe you should smile more often. It'd take years off of your ugly mug." Ino said plainly, falling in to walk beside her.

"Ha! Like you can say anything Ino-pig. You don't look so young yourself these days. Who knows, maybe if you stopped caking on so much make-up, you'd stop looking like an old hag reliving the glory days."

They grinned at each other, letting old habits take over. Things were easier that way.

All of the playfulness left her when they finally got to their destination and suddenly she couldn't breathe. She had to stop for a moment, pressing her hand against her chest, hoping to alleviate some of the invisible pressure crushing her chest. Ino's hand gently found her shoulder and she took a few short breaths. She knew crying wouldn't help, would only ruin her image of calm confidence, but it was suddenly very difficult not to. She'd been ignoring the purpose of this trip all morning, just going through the motions instead of thinking about it, but now the crushing weight of it hit her.

Eventually, she calmed and straightened up again. She breathed deeply and held onto Ino's hand for a moment before letting go and stepping forward. She couldn't miss her own team-mate's funeral, after all.

Later, as his coffin was lowering into the earth, she almost regretted her decision. She hated the oppressive air at funerals and felt a particular aversion to any wherein a friend was the one being honored. She wanted to show her respect but this was not how she wanted to remember any of her precious people. But the people needed her support now more than ever. As the last remaining member of team seven and the woman who had been close with the last three hokages, she was something of a legend. She had been the one to escape a tragic death at the hands of war- the one to keep the village running while many shinobi were off at the font lines, the one to heal the wounded ones who made it back, and the one to hold those who had lost friends in the conflict.

And now the hokage was dead.

Naruto had fallen. She was the last one. It was her job to pick up the legacy that he had left behind. So she'd stayed, stood up straight under the sudden, heavy burden of responsibility, and smiled to those who needed it. She stayed at the grave long after the service ended and comforted the people who came to her. She stayed as the graveyard emptied and didn't cry until she was alone.

Hinata came to her as the tears began to slow. She stepped on the fallen red and orange leaves deliberately, letting the crunch of them beneath her feet allert Sakura of her approach. She dried off her face gently and turned to face her. They just stared at each other a while, not saying or doing anything. Then the Hyuuga heiress spoke.

"You loved him too." she said. It wasn't a question.

"Yeah." she replied.

Hinata stepped closer, grabbed her hands, and Sakura looked away. She couldn't look at her- it was too much, knowing what they'd both lost. Hinata raised a hand and held her face gently. She chanced a glance at Hinata's face. Hinata met her gaze and offered a small, sad smile and suddenly they were kissing. It took Sakura's brain a minute to catch up to what was happening- then she kissed her back. When Hinata pulled back, she looked embarrassed, but not regretful.

"Sorry," she said, seemingly on reflex, "I just- we both-"

Sakura shook her head, "It's okay." she said simply.

Hinata stared at her for a moment and she stared right back. Her face suddenly steeled with resolve.

"Sakura, what- what if I told you we could fix this? That I- that is, that I've found something that could stop the war from ever happening?"

"What do you mean?"

"Come with me. I- I'll show you."

She let Hinata pull her away, casting one last glance at the new grave.

They walked for what felt like forever to Sakura's tired body. When they stopped at their destination, she almost left. It was bad enough that there had been so much death lately and now Hinata had lead her to the one place that could almost surpass the graveyard in terms of sorrow- the Uchiha compound.

"Hinata why would you take me here of all places?"

"Just- just trust me. I know that it's- what it looks like, I mean. But I promise you'll understand."

Hinata let go of her hand abruptly and ducked into a nearby building. Sakura shivered in the cooling fall air and waited despite her doubts. Hinata came back out with a large, heavy scroll in hand. She opened it and spread it across the ground.

"Look, this- I wanted you to see it. I think that we could do it- go back and fix things. We don't have to- things don't have to happen this way."

Sakura leaned down and examined it, reading the text and looking over the seals written on it, and her eyes widened.

"Hinata. Is this really possible?"

"I think so, yes." she breathed out, "I've been- I looked into it. I, I have been for the last couple months, since I found it. I wasn't sure what to do but then… then Naru- Naruto passed and I knew that..."

"Yeah, I understand."

She stood up, feeling alive and hopeful for the first time in months. She kissed Hinata with renewed passion. Hinata kissed back hesitantly. When she pulled back they were both grinning like idiots.

"Thank you, Hinata."

"It's um- no problem." she giggled out.

High on a sudden burst of adrenaline, Sakura didn't stop to really think about the choice she was about to make.

"Do want to just do it?" she asked.

"Y-yes!" Hinata nodded frantically.

"Then let's go!"

They set up all of the symbols right there- on what was practically a sacred, cursed burial place- with little care. By the time the intricate work was done, it was well past midnight, but they weren't about to stop. They pushed their chakra into it and went when they felt themselves being pulled away. Neither one stopped to question the consequences of their actions- they were beyond caring.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

When Sakura woke up, she was thoroughly disoriented. Her head hurt, she was nauseous, and she was in a room that she only barely remembered from her childhood. She'd painted it a different color and rearranged the furniture with her parents when she was about eleven. Then, she'd moved out at about nineteen. So, waking up in the pale blues of her childhood room with furniture that seemed to be about five times the size it should be was a rather strange and uncomfortable experience.

She took a couple of deep breaths and examined her surroundings before trying to sit up. Even so, she moved slowly, trying not to worsen the pounding in her skull. After she'd managed that, leaning heavily against the headboard, she looked down at her teeny tiny hands. Finally it hit her i'_it worked!_'/i She still felt like crap, but knowing that the time-travel jutsu had succeeded boosted her spirits considerably.

She couldn't actually make it out of bed. When she tried, the nausea hit her full force and she ended up sprawled on the floor. She managed to climb back into bed eventually but after that she just settled in to wait it out. Her father came up to check on her, but she obviously looked as bad as she felt, so he brought her water and chicken noodle soup before he had to leave for patrol duty. Her mother was off on a mission, so she wouldn't be any help either. Still, it was fairly likely that some jounin would happen by her home to check on her throughout the day.

At least, that was how it had been when she was a jounin. If someone had a kid and you weren't on duty, it was polite to check up on them and report to their parent(s). It was a sort of hands off way of baby-sitting. This ensured that none of the children were unsupervised for long or got injured stupidly. She felt like this was somewhat neglectful, but for households where one or more parents were a ninja, there wasn't much else to be done.

The sick feeling didn't go away so she ended up bed-ridden for the day. She wondered how Hinata was doing. She was probably just as sick and out of her depth. She felt a little worried but Hinata was just as capable a ninja as she was and could handle herself. She didn't know how soon she'd get to see her at this rate though.

-=1=-

Her father made her promise to stay in the house the next day even though she felt better. No doubt the jounin would be stopping by all day again, so there was really no point in trying to run off. She'd just be found and returned home again. So, she decided to make use of her time in a different way. Since she could now get up without vomiting or having a massive headache, she might as well attempt to get her bearings.

She wandered into the living room and tried to gather information as soon as her father left the house. She managed to find a newspaper- based on the date, she was about five years old. Soon, it'd be time to join the academy, then. If nothing else, that'd mean she could meet up with Hinata. More searching revealed nothing she didn't already know from this time period. So, she went and fixed herself some breakfast in the kitchen. Nothing much, just some eggs and toast. This was a little beyond her original capability as a five year old, but she'd always been observant, so she doubted her parents would be shocked or bothered by this development.

Taking her plate into her hands, she went back into her room. Once she'd finished eating, she set her plate aside. She very carefully entered meditation, not wanting to alert any shinobi to her activities, and felt out her chakra. It was a weak force, stronger than it had been originally, but nowhere near what it had been when she'd last taken the time to seek it out. She sighed but wasn't all that surprised. Part of chakra was spiritual understanding of the self and expanding the senses. The other half was hard training. While she had some spiritual capabilities, she hadn't honed those nearly as much as she had physically. This definitely hurt her reserves, especially because she was now a small child.

Gingerly, she spread out her chakra like a net around her. She thinned her chakra considerably to do this in order to avoid the notice of any nearby ninja. She widened her senses and tried to feel for chakra signatures. There were a couple of shinobi not far off and she drew her chakra back in slowly. Even after doing something so small she felt winded. Her reserves weren't damaged at all but physically she was tired. She went ahead and took her plate back to the kitchen and washed the dishes before she went upstairs for a nap.

She slept until her father got home and then only stayed awake for a couple more hours before he made her go back to bed for the night.

-=2=-

When she woke up feeling fine again the next day her dad finally let her leave the house. He made her pack a lunch before he let her out the door and made her promise to come straight home if she started feeling sick again. He wouldn't be there, once again, but her mother was supposed to be back today. She headed for the park that was not too far off from her house. From what she remembered, she should meet Ino there soon, if she hadn't met her already. To be honest, she couldn't recall much of her childhood before academy.

When she arrived, she saw some kids that she recognized. Choji was on the swings, munching away on his chips, and Kiba was running around with his mother's dog. Other than that, there was a smattering of civilian children. She ignored them and played by herself for a little while, trying to think about how to approach the situation. It probably wouldn't be too risky to introduce herself to Choji, but she didn't really want to risk anything without talking to Hinata first. However, that was likely to end in boredom. She could handle that, true, but she'd rather not have to.

Eventually, Ino did show up. She did so as Sakura was getting started on her lunch, sitting off to the side so her food wouldn't get trampled. Her face lit up when she saw Sakura. Well, that solved that particular mystery. She smiled shyly and waved as Ino bounded over to her. She hoped that she didn't seem too off but she didn't know what to really do besides be quiet and reserved. Ino had been the one to really draw her out of her shell and that had taken a long while if she remembered things right.

"Hey, Sakura!" and wow, had Ino always been that loud? Her ears were ringing like she'd been speaking to Naruto.

"Hi Ino," she said, with a much more reserved tone but just as wide a smile.

"Where were you yesterday?" Ino asked.

"I was sick," she said before Ino pushily interrupted her.

"What're you doing sitting all alone?" she asked, brows furrowed in consternation.

"Well," she started, but then faltered, stopping to bite her lip and frown, "I don't really have any friends besides you."

To be honest, she was trying not to smile and laugh. Ino had always been assertive but it was something else to see her like a kid again. Before she could get another word in edgewise, Ino was talking again. She talked about how stupid and awful those girls who had previously bullied Sakura were before saying that she should just go and talk to people. She insisted that Sakura needed some other friends, ignoring all of her protests and pushing her toward the other children. Luckily enough, Hinata chose that moment to appear.

"Fine, fine," she said to Ino, "I'll go talk to someone."

Ino grinned at her before her face went into a determined set that reminded Sakura a little painfully of some of the missions they'd gone on together. She always made that face before she decided on a course of action. It stung Sakura a little, thinking about how she'd just left her own Ino behind, but she pushed it away. Thankfully, Ino didn't notice, she was too focused taking in all the other kids in the playground. Sakura made a show of fidgeting nervously while Ino was examining the other children. Finally, Ino chose a target.

"Her!" she said, pointing straight at Hinata, "She's not so scary, right?"

-=3=-

_A/N: Thank you for your kind comments and for all the faves and follows! 3 I hope you like this chapter!_


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